The other way is less aggressive and doesn’t give you the feeling you’ve been victimized by the bait and switch scam. The dealer actually has the “ad-car” on the lot and will show it to you so you can bump yourself off of it onto a higher-priced model.
You explain to the salesperson you want the deal in the paper. A smart salesman will ask to see the ad, take the paper from you, and conveniently make it disappear.
He will ask if he can take your paper with him to “check with his manager” to see if the advertised vehicle is still available. When the salesperson returns, your copy of the ad does not. This gets the ad and all the competitors’ ads out of your hands.
Car salespeople have been highly trained on how to handle these types of customers. He will start “down-selling” the ad car immediately. Once you see the ad car and notice it doesn’t have many bells and whistles like power windows, locks, CD, carpet, or even a/c. You’ll either start to get a little upset or be flexible in your wants and needs.
This is when the salesperson and the dealer’s sales system kicks in. The salesman may say something like, “I know you wanted the deal in the paper but for just a little bit more I can get you into something with a whole lot more features that you’ll really like to drive.” At this point, you’ll either want to leave or say to yourself, “what the heck, I’m here anyway.” The “switch” is complete.